The Tucson Theatre Announcements List is a monitored e-mail list. Notices from Tucson area theatre companies, filmmakers and others are forwarded to the list members. These notices include auditions, casting calls, openings and other announcements of interest to actors, directors, techies and theatre lovers in our community. This Blog contains an archive of recent posts to the list. For more information go to http://tucsonstage.com

For the past sixteen years, Arizona Theatre Company’s annual Gala has launched the Tucson arts season and has become a glittering local tradition. ATC celebrates the 2008-2009 Season on Saturday, September 27, 2008 with its seventeenth annual Gala at the historic Temple of Music and Art. Dine and dance under the stars with ATC artists, supporters and staff after an exclusive performance of Enchanted April.

Gala 2008 is Arizona Theatre Company’s major fundraiser of the year, supporting fourteen award-winning education and community-based programs that enhance the theatre experience and foster artists and audiences for the future. Generous support for this event has been provided by The Jim Click Automotive Team, and Joan and Donald Diamond as Platinum Sponsors; and Paul and Alice Baker, Madden Media, LLC, Raytheon Company, and Wells Fargo as Gold Sponsors.

The evening begins at 5:00 PM with a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception in the courtyard of the Temple of Music and Art, located at 330 S. Scott Avenue in downtown Tucson, followed by the Gala performance of Enchanted Aprilby Matthew Barber from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. After the performance, attendees will enjoy dinner by Carte Blanche Catering and dancing to the sounds of Joe Bourne and Friends.

The story of Enchanted April begins with an advertisement in the London Times: Small castle on the Mediterranean, Northern Italy, to be let for the month of April.” That simple newspaper notice seduces a quartet of British women to rent a villa for one blissful spring in 1922, where their lives of ordered regularity blossom into glorious disarray. Seduced by cinnamon breezes, they learn to let their hair, and their guards, down and awaken to the simple joys of friendship, love and marriage. A Tony-nominated Broadway hit based on the best-selling novel, Enchanted April is a heartwarming, verdant comedy about the romantic rediscovery of life's enchantments. “A lush, thoroughly refreshing theatrical holiday. A magical triumph.” - LA Times.

Immediately following the performance, ATC will honor John Hudak with the 2008 Georgy Award, named after longtime Tucsonan and ATC Trustee Emeritus George Rosenberg. The Georgy Award is presented annually to recognize the significant impact that certain individuals or organizations have had on ATC and on the arts in Arizona.

John Hudak first joined Madden Media, then Madden Publishing, in 1987 as the first editor of Tucson Guide when there were just five employees and two magazines. Today, the company has more than 100 employees and works with 60 destination marketing organizations to promote tourism in 36 states. The company’s award-winning publications and marketing campaigns reach more than 120 million consumers annually. Mr. Hudak has contributed significantly to the company's impressive growth. As Publisher, John is the top authority to the company’s editing, design, and advertising teams. During his decades at Madden, Mr. Hudak has shaped the editorial missions of Madden’s local publications, such as Tucson HOME Magazine and Tucson Guide, and the company’s direction as a whole.

After graduating from the University of Arizona, Mr. Hudak helped start the Annual Tucson Poetry Festival, which just celebrated its 26th annual festival. Mr. Hudak then became very active in the Downtown Tucson art scene of the 1980’s and helped found the Downtown Arts District Partnership, and the Tucson Arts Coalition with the sole purpose of maintaining affordable opportunities for artists to live and work in Downtown Tucson. It was this organization that Mr. Hudak became the spokesperson and chairman of the campaign to “Save the Temple of Music and Art” from demolition.

Mr. Hudak was twice appointed by the Governor to serve as a Commissioner for the Arizona Commission on the Arts. He was recently honored by the Tucson Pima Arts Council when he won the prestigious 2008 Lumie Award for Arts Supporter. The Lumie Award is given each year by the Tucson Pima Arts Council to honor individual efforts in supporting the arts in Pima County. Mr. Hudak was also honored this year by the Tucson Advertising Federation with the Golden Pen Award, which is given each year to an outstanding professional in the print advertising community of Southern Arizona.